Hotter than July World Music Festival (2017) in Dublin, Ireland

HOTTER THAN JULY FESTIVAL

This year, the Hotter than July Festival has been organised by:

• Improvised Music Company
• Big Bang Festival
• and Dublin City Council.

Unfortunately, on the day, it was pretty rainy, so I missed part of it for this reason! ☔

However, I listened to and filmed the last 3 bands who performed at the event! 😃😉

If any of you have filmed other bands, feel free to share the links in the comment box! 👍

In the meantime, enjoy these pictures!

ABOUT KAKATSITSI MASTER DRUMMERS

It is one of Africa’s leading traditional drumming groups. Kakatsitsi performs rhythms and chants from a variety of West African cultures in a modern funky style.

They are originally from Jamestown, Accra, Ghana.

You can follow them on Facebook or on this website.

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Although I had filmed live the Kakatsitsi Master Drummers, the video didn’t save on my phone. 😞

So, let me share with you a video of them taken at a different event. They gave a very similar performance at Hotter than July festival.

Do you start feeling the heat? 🔥

Well, this continued throughout the afternoon. All bands were really energetic and good!

ABOUT MANDEN EXPRESS

Now it’s the turn of Manden Express, the Irish based band. I uploaded a video of them just for you on YouTube! 🎁💗

You can follow them on Facebook or on their website.

Finally, the last band La Chiva Gantiva spent literally their stage time jumping around! 💪

ABOUT LA CHIVA GANTIVA

La Chiva Gantiva is a frenetic carnival‐punk racket. It detonates like a Molotov cocktail of:

• rock
• rap
• soul
• and ferociously funky Latin rhythms.

The band formed in Brussels (Belgium) by three Colombian immigrants, who met around a percussion kit. They wanted to produce an original music and assert their cultural roots.

Present La Chiva Gantiva’s members are from:

• Colombia
• Vietnam
• Belgium
• and Chile.

I’m sharing video snippets as well as an audio track of the entire song!

You can follow them on Facebook or on their website.

Like this blog? Hit ‘Subscribe’ on the right-hand side column! 👉👊🙏

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Nico and Vinz, Norwegian singing duo with african roots in video

Nico and Vinz

First of all, I hope you will find the Nico and Vinz singing duet as interesting as I do.

I particularly enjoy their music styles fusion. Hence why I wanted to share their information with you.

ABOUT THE SINGER-SONGWRITER DUET

Secondly, I will not bother you with too long explanations.

However, if you would like to know more about this duet, please read these 2 articles:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nico_%26_Vinz

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2014/05/25/on-the-verge-with-nico-and-vinz-am-i-wrong/9298633/

You can also check their Facebook fan page:

https://www.facebook.com/nicoandvinz

Alternatively, you can opt to watch their YouTube interview:

THEIR SONG LYRICS

Furthermore, you can also discover their song lyrics here:

http://www.metrolyrics.com/nico-vinz-lyrics.html

RELEASED ALBUM 

Finally, enjoy listening to their album!

Enjoy their music?

Then why not attend their next concert?

Or even better, purchasing their album available on Amazon?

Guinea Bissau – Sadjo Sissokho, afro mandinga kora player

I discovered Sadjo Sissokho’s peaceful kora music on Grafton Street, Dublin 2. Some of you may ask: but what is a kora?

The kora is a 21-string bridge-harp used extensively in West Africa. It is built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator with a long hardwood neck. Have a look at the pictures below of the musician with his instrument.

You may also wonder who Sadjo Sissokho is. He is a kora, djembe player as well as teacher hailing from Guinea Bissau and living in Co. Meath, Ireland. Sadjo has already been performing at different festivals such as Africa Day, Electric Picnic and collaborating with Wassa Wassa.

Here is a little sample of what kind of music he plays:

Now if you wish to get in touch with him, check out this forum about african musicians and communities in Ireland:

http://www.theafricanvoice.ie/The-African-Music-Festival-ireland-51.html

South Africa – Hip Hop artists

Ever wondered how South African Hip Hop music could sound like? If you have never been to South Africa, this will give a delightful musical trip!

I have discovered some really cool hip hop artists true to their origins, who have mixed the hip hop music with the fascinating local sounds like Kwaito ( a variant of house music featuring the use of African sounds and samples. Typically at a slower tempo range than other styles of house music, Kwaito often contains catchy melodic and percussive loop samples, deep bass lines, and vocals) or Zulu (guitar picking folklore music style influenced by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century).

For more information on Kwaito, check out this article:

http://thisisafrica.me/lifestyle/real-roots-kwaito-south-african-house-music/

I hope you will enjoy as much I did to listen to Terror MC, Pro Kid, Mzekezeke and Zulu boy.

If you want to know a bit more about these artists, check out their biographies here and find few videos below these links:

http://www.myspace.com/theterrormc

https://www.last.fm/music/PROKID

http://kwaitomusic.co.za/artists/mzekezeke/

http://www.djsproduction.co.za/zulu-boy/

If you know any other original South African Hip Hop artists, share their tracks with us in the comment box below!

Calm Radio Africa- A lovely african radio station

If you need to chill out after all the partying and dining and are looking for a different type of music, Calm Radio Africa will very likely enchant you!

This radio station can be accessed either by browsing your TuneIn application radio stations (for iPhone users) or by going directly on their own web radio available for PCs and Macs (click on the World” tab and look for “Africa”): https://www.calmradio.com. You will find as well information about their android application on their website.

Enjoy discovering new artists and if you like any of the songs you hear, check them out on iTunes or youtube afterward.

Let us know what are your favorite tracks!

King Ibu, traditional senegalese musician and singer

While discovering the different music types and world radio stations on the brilliant TuneIn Radio application available on both iphone and ipad, i came accross a podcast on King Ibu.

I enjoyed the little snippets of music I heard and searched for more information about him. I found few Youtube videos but also his page with couple of sample tracks and music store on ReverbNation. So check out this link below and share the love through the Facebook and Twitter buttons on his page:  http://www.reverbnation.com/kingibu